The thesis analyzes the extent to which civil-military relations in Venezuela have deteriorated in the past decade. The thesis's central theme is that the civilian control over the military in Venezuela is far from ideal. The relations between the armed forces and the decision-makers are based only on the interactions of the President with the military. There are no other civilian institutions involved in the control of the military. However, the armed forces of Venezuela have shown very strong democratic principles and any increase in the presence of the armed forces in the political and economic arena is the result of civilians' request. The armed forces of Venezuela have not sought to tilt the balance of power in their favor. In addition, the thesis addresses how well each of the three major approaches of comparative politics to explain the Venezuela situation.

Unlike most other emerging South American democracies, Venezuela has not succumbed to a successful military coup d'etat during four decades of democratic rule. What drives armed forces to follow the orders of elected leaders? And how do emerging democracies gain that control over their military establishments? Harold Trinkunas answers these questions in an examination of Venezuela's transition to democracy following military rule and its attempts to institutionalize civilian control of the military over the past sixty years, a period that included three regime changes. Trinkunas first focuses on the strategic choices democratizers make about the military and how these affect the internal civil-military balance of power in a new regime. He then analyzes a regime's capacity to institutionalize civilian control, looking specifically at Venezuela's failures and successes in this arena during three periods of intense change: the October revolution (1945-48), the Pact of Punto Fijo period (1958-98), and the Fifth Republic under President Hugo Chavez (1998 to the present). Placing Venezuela in comparative perspective with Argentina, Chile, and Spain, Trinkunas identifies the bureaucratic mechanisms democracies need in order to sustain civilian authority over the armed forces.

Papers presented at an October 1992 conference form the basis of the chapters in this book, although some were commissioned after the conference. Topics include the decline of Venezuelan exceptionalism, political parties and the Democratic crisis, popular opinion, civil- military relations, the Venezuelan private sector, social policy, and constitutional reform. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR